Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcellus
.On not being a “game manager,” playing cautiously to avoid turnovers
Smith: That’s definitely not the mindset you want. If you play in that mindset, then you aren’t going to be successful. There’s certainly a sweet spot there where you’re going out and playing football, but what you’ve been coached to do and what you’ve been taught to do in your fundamentals is take care of protecting the football. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some times when I’ve gone out there [with the game manager mentality]—and it’s never been good. You don’t ever want to go out there saying that. You don’t ever want to go out there just saying you’re not going to turn the football over. You’re out there to execute an offense. People can look at it however they want, but for me the goal is to score points as an offense. You can put up however many freakin’ yards you want. The goal is to score points. And with that, yeah, protect the football. I watch a lot of football, and not just the NFL, and you see teams just giving it away. It’s hard enough to win football games when you’re not giving it away. For us, it’s not about being conservative. We’re trying to score points. Can we do a better job of that? No question.
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So he doesn't go out there with a game manager mentality. He goes out trying to execute the offense and score points. That's all well and good.
But from his play on the field - and even his comments about avoiding turnovers - it's clear his conception of executing the offense is hugely influenced by avoiding turnovers and risk.